Help for Japan-Whimsy Stamps Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to a very special blog hop today! The illustrators of Whimsy Stamps have come together to draw a special set of digi images for the purpose of raising money for the relief effort in Japan. All proceeds from the sale of these images will be donated to that cause. Kenny K, Raindrop Echo Designs, Meljens Designs, and Crissy Armstrong all contributed art work.

For the whole month of April, you can purchase the images as a set or individually (your choice) by visiting THIS PAGE on the Whimsy store site. Please consider helping this special cause by purchasing one or all of the digital images we are offering.

If you have landed here after visiting the lovely Mary Lou's blog, you are right on track. If you have come here randomly and would like to start hopping from the beginning, please go to Crissy's blog. She has the blog rotation order posted if you need to refer to it.

The amazing ladies of two design teams have come together to host this blog hop for you! Crissy's Crew from Sundays With Crissy and Denise's DT from Whimsy Stamps have joined forces to design some amazing jaw dropping creations for you. You have seven days to hop through all the blogs and enjoy all the lovely creations from these talented people. The hop runs from now through til Sunday April 10 at noon. There will be several opportunities to win blog candy! Four random commenters will get a chance to receive one of the three individual images or Ann's sentiment set. So be sure to leave comments all along the way for your chance at a free digi! Also, if you post the "Help for Japan" button on your blog's sidebar, you can enter into the draw for the grand prize! The grand prize will consist of the entire digital set made just for this cause as well as a gift certificate donated by Ann of Raindrop Echo Designs worth 10$ to use at the Whimsy Stamps store! To enter, you must help us advertise for this cause by posting the "Help Japan" button on your blog's side bar (just grab it from my side bar) and then get your name on the Inlinkz option on Crissy's post so we can be sure to find the winner.

For my card today, I have used the beautiful image Crissy drew for this cause. This is "Heartfelt Angel". The papers are from the Basic Grey Hopscotch collection. I sponged the white doily and the white paper-punched mat with Antique Linen Distress Ink. The sentiment (from CC Designs) was stamped in Stormy Sky Distress Ink. The distress ink was also used to stamp the swirls (Impression Obsession) on the background paper behind the image. I used some fantastic laser cut chipboard embellishments from Make It Crafty (thanks Zoe!!!)...I used two different sets, "Flower Leaf Embellishments" and "Swirly Corners". After applying a few coats of white acrylic craft paint with a makeup sponge, I used another sponge to apply some Antique Linen Distress Ink. Finally, the laser cut embellishments were covered with a light coat of Smooch Illuminate. The little pears are from the dollar store.

"Heartfelt Angel" was printed on Neenah cardstock and then coloured with Copic markers. I also added some additional shading with my Conte Crayons and a paper blending stump.

Colours: Hair: E50, E30, E31, E33, E37, Y21 Skin: E000, E00, E11, R20 Dress: B91, B93, B95, B97, BG000, C5 Wings and sash: E50, E53, E57 (the colourless blender was also used on the wings) Bubble wand: E30, Y17 Bubbles: RV000, V01, BG11, BG0000 (and Smooch Illuminate)

Next you'll want to visit Sylvia's blog to continue hopping. Thank you so much for stopping by, and for your support of this very worthy cause.

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: , CC Designs " Amy R's Thank you Sentiments" and Impression Obsession's "Flourish 2"Ink: Copic markers,Distress Ink Paper: Neenah, Bazzill, Basic Grey Embellishments: Make It Crafty's "Flower Leaf Embellishments" and "Swirly Corners", doily, machine stitching, pearls, Smooch Illuminate

Whimsy Stamps Holiday Release Blog Hop!

Good morning friends! I've got some exciting news to share with you...I was contacted by Denise, the very sweet owner of Whimsy Stamps, who invited me to be a guest for the Whimsy Stamps Holiday Release Blog Hop! May I just say how blessed and honoured I am to have the opportunity to join in with the fantastic Whimsy Stamps design team, as well as all the other lovely guests on the hop today. Thank you so much Denise!

Whimsy Stamps is releasing a lovely collection of rubber stamps to suit all your crafty needs this upcoming holiday season...and they are available for purchase today! To celebrate this release, Denise has put together a blog hop jam packed with gorgeous projects by some amazingly talented designers! So grab a cup of coffee or tea, put on some Christmas tunes and let's get this holiday hop started!

Did you arrive here after visiting the lovely Ann Vento? If not, then you will want to start the hop right from the beginning with Bev Rochester...then just follow the links along the way to visit the next participant in the hop! Oh, and you will want to make sure to leave comments along the way, as there will be some hidden prizes! (You can find a complete list of the blog hop participants at the Whimsy Inspirations Blog HERE.)

I had the opportunity to work with "Jingle Bell Ride" illustrated by the very talented artist Crissy Armstrong. I absolutely love the line of Carousel horses that Crissy has designed for Whimsy Stamps...they are gorgeous! I have a sweet spot for stamps featuring horses, as they have always been my favourite animal. (yes...I was your typical horse-crazy little girl!) I rode a lot as a teenager, worked at a barn and spent countless hours drawing horses...used to drive my art teacher nuts, as most of my projects featured them! lol The pretty vintage papers are from My Mind's Eye. The "frame" was cut out of metallic gold cardstock using Spellbinders Labels 10 . All papers were sponged with Black Soot Distress Ink. The Jingle Bell Ride stamp set comes with some fantastic accessory stamps and a few sentiments..."Merry Christmas" is one of them. What a gorgeous font! I used Spellbinders Fancy Tags and Petite Ovals Small for the sentiment. The gold scrolls behind the sentiment were cut using Spellbinders Doodle Parts.

"Jingle Bell Ride" was stamped on Neenah with Memento Ink and coloured with Copic markers. I also added additional shading with a black Conte crayon and paper blending stump. This helped to soften the look of the ink, as well as accentuate the "dappled" look that I first layed down with the markers. The furry collar, booties and poinsettias were given a coat of Stardust Stickles. The candy canes and bells were coated with Glossy Accents.

Copics: Horse: W1, W3, W5, W7 Mane, Tail and Hooves: C100, C7, C5, C3, B60 Pole and Bells: Y11, Y21, Y17, YR31, E33 Reds: R37, R46, R59, C5 Greens: G20, G82, G85, G99, C5 (YG00 and YG11 were also used on the leaves) Furry cuff: C1, C3, B60, colourless blender

You can see the glimmer from both the Stickles and metallic cardstock, as well as the shine from the Glossy Accents in this angled shot:

Remember that all the brand new stamps you will see on the hop today are now available for purchase at Whimsy Stamps! The hop will remain open until Thursday October 7, 2010 at 12:00 pm EST. All prize winners will be announced on October 7, 2010 after the hop closes.

Your next stop on the holiday hop is Debbie Eastman, who I know will have something stunning to share with you! Don't forget to leave those comments!

Have wonderful time on the hop today Whimsy fans, and thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Whimsy Stamps "Jingle Bell Ride"

Ink: Memento, Copic markers, Black Soot Distress Ink (also black Conte crayon)

Paper: My Mind's Eye (Holly Jolly), Bazzill, Neenah

Embellishments: Stardust Stickles, dollar store pearls, machine stitching

Tools: Spellbinders Labels 10, Fancy Tags, Petite Ovals Small, Doodle Parts